Archive for October, 2013

Chester Osborn is a walking encyclopedia. The Australian wine producer manages to keep ALL of the data for 60 different wines he makes each year, in his head! The sheer number of vineyards would tax most people’s faculties. And, these are wines of no small breeding. Most of the vineyards are 60+ years old.

Chester comes by all of this naturally. He is the 4th generation of his family in the wine business, with d’Arenberg’s first vintage coming in 1928. Born in 1962, he was raised on the family property where father d’Arry Osborn had begun producing wines with the red stripe label in 1959. During Chester’s initial years of schooling he worked in the vineyards and the cellar floor during school holidays. In 1980 Chester commenced his Oenology degree at Roseworthy Agricultural College.

In 1983, Chester graduated with a Bachelor of Applied Sciences in Oenology and took over the reins as Chief Wine maker at d’Arenberg, rejuvenating the 70 year old cellars and 19th Century vineyards as well as overseeing all aspects of wine making, viticulture and marketing. In 1984 he took leave from the winery and spent most of the year undertaking a viticultural and oenological tour of France, Italy, Germany and Spain. Chester Osborn has received masses of critical acclaim for his wine making talents. Most recently he was recognized as The Red Wine maker of the Year at the 2007 Japan International Wine Competition.

Join us as we hear from indefatigable Chester Osborn, who relishes the d’Arenberg goal as the “Art of Being Different.”

Alessandro Bindocci is the 4th generation of Bindocci’s to work in the wine business, and the 2nd generation to be following in the footsteps of Piero Talenti, mentor to Alessandro’s father Fabrizio and one of the founding fathers of the Brunello di Montalcino appellation.

After completing his enology degree at the University of Pisa, Alessandro returned to Montalcino to work with his father, bringing with him 21st century technology to one of Brunello’s oldest estates. Alessandro is winemaker for Tenuta Il Poggione, one of three original producers of Brunello di Montalcino, who began making wine in the late 19th century along with Biondi-Santi and Frescobaldi. Now owned by the Franceschi family, this estate has some of the oldest vines in the appellation.

Join us as we talk with Alessandro about Montalcino, the Tenuta Il Poggione wines, and a joint project between the Franceschi and Terlato families, named Mazzoni.

One might easily assume the Garcin family have always been Bordelais. However, they’re relatively recent transplants, having previously lived in the French Alps, where they owned a chain of supermarkets and a sports company. After the sale of these companies, brother and sister, Daniel and Sylviane Garcin, headed to Bordeaux in 1991, whereupon Daniel bought Chateau Smith Haut Lafite, and Sylviane bought Chateau Haut-Bergey. At the same time, Silviane formed Vignobles Garcin and continued to buy additional properties.

Vignobles Garcin consists of four small, ultra-premium wineries, including Right Bank properties Barde-Haut and Clos L’Eglise, as well as two Left Bank estates Haut-Bergey in Graves and Chateau Branon in Pessac-Leognan. The properties are now managed by Silviane’s daughter, Helene and Helene’s husband Patrice Leveque. The Garcin’s also decided to invest in Argentina, forming Bodega Poesia in the Lujan de Cuyo sub-appellation in the Mendoza region.

One of the properties, Chateau Barde-Haut, began as an addition to the family home on a 17-acre natural amphitheatre, just a few minutes from center of St. Emilion. Neighbors include Tertre-Roteboeuf and Troplong-Mondot. Dr. Alain Raynaud is also part of the Garcin team and consults on the winemaking.

Join us as we talk with the charming Hélène Garcin-Lévêque about Bordeaux, her family’s properties, and their progressive attitude in creating a state-of-the-art ‘green’ winery at Chateau Barde-Haut.

Ken Chase is a busy guy! As the wine consultant for American Airlines, it’s his responsibility to source the wine and plan the wine lists for all of American’s 6,000 flights per day. Fortunately, he’s got the contacts and the experience to make it all sound easy.

Ken is a classically trained wine maker and viticulturist with an international reputation. He started studying wine in Bordeaux France, Germany and Italy, while living in Europe for eight years. Ken selects fine wines for various routes paying close attention to menu parings, as well as the ethnic, cultural, seasonal and stylistic differences of each destination. He pursued a degree in enology and viticulture studies at University of Melbourne followed by continuing studies at UC Davis.

Join us as we talk with Ken about what it takes to put together a wine program of this magnitude.

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GrapeRadio is a wine talk show. Show topics cover issues such as the enjoyment of wine, wine news and industry trends - the hallmark of the show is interviews with world class guest (winemakers, vineyards owners, wine retail / wholesale leaders, restaurateurs and sommeliers). The scope of the show is international so expect to hear many guests from around the world.

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